The goal of this assignment is to use your newly acquired expertise to design a

The goal of this assignment is to use your newly acquired expertise to design a research project
that pertains to something of personal interest to you. Your research topic should be related to Health
and Human Performance topics in some way, but that is very-loosely defined. You have been briefed on
much research, have found articles on your own, and surely have questions that you would like to
investigate after being introduced to the potential of neuroscience for human performance. Your task is
to:
1) Create a research question(s) or hypothesis that you would be interested in exploring. This
should be a concise statement, that briefly explains the purpose of the study you would like to
pursue (e.g. “The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of a CDC-recommended
dose of physical activity on cognitive function”).
2) Introduction (1 page): This section is often written last, and it is an easy lead-in to what you plan
to research. Provide a brief explanation of your concepts (e.g. physical activity, cognitive
performance, etc.), a very general idea of why they are important and what we know about
them, and a structure for the literature review section (“The following literature review will
define and describe research on physical activity and its influence on cognitive performance”).
3) Literature Review (4 pages): You will need to create a literature review including at least 10
citations of refereed articles or books that build the case for your research question. What
similar research has been done on this topic and what would we expect to see based on that
research? This should include articles that used the same methods you would like to use, and
articles that looked into a similar research question. Never reinvent the wheel. Look at what has
been done, then change a part of that study to make it uniquely yours. Break this section up into
subheadings that match your major topics/concepts (e.g. Physical activity, Cognitive
Performance, etc.).
4) Methods (2 pages): You will need to identify the process you would go through to test your
research question. Who are the participants, how many participants, and why those
participants? What method of neuroscience measurement would you use (EEG, Brainwave
frequencies or ERPs, MRI, etc.)? What surveys questions, research instruments (e.g. personality
tests, etc.) or other cognitive tests (e.g. Stroop, etc.) would you use and why? You should
provide a copy of any survey questions as an appendix. You don’t need to describe the specific
type of analyses you will run (e.g. Regression, ANOVA), but you should indicate whether you are
looking for differences (before and after a program, between groups) or relationships (between
EEG readings & performance, etc.). You should follow other research articles closely and use
their format (and even their measures) for your methods section. Be sure to include headings
for “Sample”, “Procedures”, “Measurements”, and “Limitations”. In the limitations, you should
address weaknesses in your study and explain how you would account for those weaknesses or
why you chose to accept them.
5) References and appendices: Provide a reference page in APA format that includes all citations in
the paper. After the reference page, include any additional survey questions and/or
psychological instruments you would have in your study.
6) You will submit this paper on a discussion board along with a video (5 minutes) describing your
research proposal. Students will then select another person’s research proposal to critique.